Book-filing cabinet



June 23, 1925. I 1,543,292

M. MURDOCK BOOK FILING CABINET Filed Dec. 18, 1920 I N VEN TOR. Max Maniac! Z9 ATTORNEY.

Patented June 23, 1925.

UNITED STATES MAX MUR-DOCK, 0F S'IREATOR, ILLINOIS.

BOOK-FILING CABINET.

Application filed December 18, 1920. Serial No. 431,739.

To all whom. it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MAX MUnDooK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Streator, in the county of La Salle and State of Illlinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Book-Filing Cabinets, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

This inventionrelates to improvements in book filing cabinets.

The object of my invention is to provide a filing cabinet especially designed for the filing of books and by'which cabinet a minimum of floor space and wall space is required for a given quantity of books to be filed.

Another object of my invention is to provide a filing cabinet employing'a plurality of horizontally slidable drawers and in which substantial and effective means are employed to support the drawers when the latter are pulled outwardly from the cabinet casing.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a filing cabinet of the character above indicated of substantial and economical construction and one which will afford a pleasing appearance and be 'suitablevas a piece of furniture for ofiices.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a filing cabinet embodying my improvements. Figure 2 is a vertical, sectional view of a portion of the cabinet shown in Figure 1 and corresponding to the line 2-2 thereof. In Figure 2, one drawer is shown closed and another fully open. Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view corresponding substantially to the line 3-3 of Figure 2. Figure 4 is a sectional perspective view of a portion of one of the drawers employed with my improvements.

Referring to the drawings, I have shown a framework or casing designated generally by the reference A and a plurality of drawers BB-there being four in the instance shown. Ihe cabinet or casing A will preferably be constructed of sheet metal and have side walls l0-10, bottom 11, top 12, back wall 13, and cross pieces 1515 providing the dividing partitions between the various drawers.

In actual practice, the casing A will preferably be made of the same dimensions and form as standard cabinets of the vertical filing type now commonly found in ofiices, and with any suitable desired finish, so that my improved book filing cabinet may be used in conjunction with such standard filing cabinets. Each of the improved drawers employed in my invention consists of a vertically extending front wall 16, vertically extending rear wall 17, horizontally extending lower wall 18, horizontally extending upper wall 19, and a centrally disposed double vertical partition or strengthening and bracing wall 20-20 extending from front wall to back wall. lVhere the drawers are made of sheet metal, the various parts will be joined either by spot-welding or by riveted-over lugs passing through suitable corresponding openings, as indicated, for instance, at 21 21 in Figure 4. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the metal used will be of such gauge as to provide the neg'essary stiffness and rigidity to sustain the weight of the books adapted to be filed or stored therein. The drawers are adapted to be manipulated by any suitable form of handle 22. The side walls of the casing will preferably be provided with channel tracks 14 within which areadapted to slidably engage the lower flanges of Z-shaped strips 2323 provided on the bottoms of the drawers, as clearly indicated in Figure 3.

To effectively support the drawers when the latter-care extended, I provide the follow ing arrangement: The double central partitions or bracing walls 2020 provide an elongated narrow channel in which is accommodated a substantially triangular shap'ed'member C, one for each drawer. Each of said triangularshaped members has an upper horizontally extending section 25 and two downwardly and oppositely inclined or converging sections 26 and 27. The said sections 25,26 and 27 are braced by a center strut 28 or otherwise as may be found desirable. The height of the member C is made slightly greater than the distance from the top wall of the drawer to the bottom wall thereof, and the lower end of the member Opasses through a slot 29 cut in the lower wall of the drawer from the rear end thereof to a point substantially at the middle, as shown most clearly in Fig ure 2. Said lowerrend of the member G, indicated at 3-0, rides in the upper channel Ill) 31 of a longitudinally extending 'H-shaped track D. On the upper part of the member C and at the extreme rear end thereof, is provided. an upwardly extending shoulder or projection 32 which slides in the lower channel 33 of" the tracks D-it being understood that the projections 32 extend above the top walls of the respective drawers. A pin 3% is mounted in the double central partition of each drawer, said pin 3% extending through an elongated slot 35 in the corresponding triangular member C-it being evident that the slot 35ll111ll35 the telescoping movements of the member C and drawers, as shown in Figure 2. Limiting stops 36 are provided in the lower channels 33 of the tracks I), said stops being located as shown in Figure 2. In carrying out my invention, I so design the triangular member C that, when the drawers are pulled out to the positic-n indicated in Figure 2, the top outer end 37 of each triangular member C will enga e and support the drawer at a point sl ghtly forward 01" the center thereof. As will be evident from the drawing, the members G are supported from their lower ends on the tracks II and are prevented from tilting by their upper rear ends engaging the corresponding track above. In this way, I obtain a substantial support for the drawer in any extended position, thus minii'nizing tendency of the drawers to tilt or sag downwardly. By employing the double wall central partition, I obtain a complete housing for the supporting members C without the possibility of engaging or disturbing the books as the drawers are pushed in and pulled out. In pulling the drawers out, it will be seen that the pins 34: will pick up the members C and pull the latter outwardly, and, in pushing the drawers inwardly, the pins 34 will engage the members C at the opposite ends of the slots 35 and lush the members G inwardly. In order to reduce the maximum length required for the member G and drawers when the latter are in full closed position, the top walls or the drawers may be notched at their rear ends, as indicated at 137, to accommodate the upstanding lugs 32.

VV-ith the-construction of drawer above described, it is evident that the same is divided into two compartments, each of which is formed with a bottom wall, top wall,

entral wall, and front and rear walls that is, with the compartments at the side so as to permit the insertion and removal of the books in the usual vertical position when the drawers are extended outwardly from the casing. Ihe manner of arranging the books is clearly indicated in Figures 3 and i by the dotted lines representing several volumes.

As is well known, the general practice :in is to store or tile books in sectional,

so-called, book cases which are tiered one above the other. The number of books which may be stored in such sectional book cases is limited from a practical standpoint, in the usual office, by the amount of available clear wall space. The general tendency in newer buildings is to reduce the size of the individual ottices, with the result that the amount of space available for sectional book cases is constantly being reduced. On the other hand, there is a constantly growing demand for filing space for books, particularly in the case of law oiiices, due to the rapidly increasing number of published law reports. In the case of libraries, and particularly law libraries, the practice is sometimes resorted to 01" arranging two sets of book cases back to back and extending those book cases in so-called stacks perpendicular to the walls of the room, With this arrangement, it is, of course, necessary to leave sufficient space between the racks to permit the opening of the usual pivoted doors on the fronts of the sections, so that there is, in reality, practically no gain in floor space by arranging sectional book cases in the manner just described.

l/Vith my improvements, I am enabled to store or file approximately 350% more of books or other like bound volumes for a given area of wall space, as compared to the usual method employed in arranging sectional book cases in ofiices. In addition to this, however, I am enabled to store a greater quantity of books or similarbound volumes for a given height of wall space, as compared with the usual sectional book cases. This increase of storage capacityis. due partly to the fact that the sectional book cases require a certain amount of space for each section to accommodate the movements of the usual hinged doors and also to permit oi one section fitting over the other. There is a further loss in vertical height of the sectional book cases of the usual type due to the necessary base sections to form a support for the sections. All-of this 'iseliminated with the filing cabinet of myinvention, with the result that I obtain an increased storage capacity of approximately 25% for a given height.

It will also be noted that, with my improved arrangement, I am enabled to -obtain approximately 60% greater storage capacity for a given floor area, as compared with the usual sectional book case system where the sectional book cases are arranged in stacks, as heretofore described. This is due to the fact that in my arrangement the cabinets may be placed side by side, one against the other when backed against the wall, without any loss in the floor space required to accommodate them. Another advantage of my improvement resides in the fact that the books are much better protected against the accumulation of dust than in the case of the usual plain shelving or sectional cases, while, at the same time, the books are always readily accessible for inspection and withdrawal.

I have herein shown and described what I now consider the preferred manner of carrying out my invention. The same, however, is merely illustrative and I contemplate all changes and modifications that come within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. A filing cabinet of the character described, the combination with a supporting frame; of a drawer horizontally slidably mounted on said frame, said drawer having a horizontal bottom wall, a horizontal top wall, a vertical front wall, a vertical rear wall and a centrally disposed, vertical longitudinally extending hollow partition between the front and rear walls, said parti- Lion having an opening in one of its edges; and means co-operable with the supporting frame adapted to be housed partly within said hollow partition, for assisting in supporting the drawer in extended position.

2. In a filing cabinet of the character clescribed, the combination with a casing; of a drawer horizontally slidably mounted in said casing, said drawerhaving a top wall; of upper and lower horizontally extending tracks within the casing located substanlatter is in open position being outside of the casing.

3. In a filing cabinet of the character described, the combination with a casing; of a drawer horizontally slidably mounted within said casing, said drawer having a top wall, bottom wall, front wall, rear wall, and a centrally disposed longitudinally extending vertical double wall partition; of a supporting member cooperable with said casing and drawer and adapted to be telescoped within said double wall partition; and upper and lower grooved tracks within which said supporting member is guided, said supporting member having a supporting point of contact with the upper wall of the drawer when the latter is in extended position.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 14th day of Dec, 1920.

MAX MURDOOK. l/Vitnesses:

CARRIE GAILING, UNA O. PERIN. 

